In the past, Albuquerque travel involved maybe one night in a motel, en route to grander destinations along Route 66 or up north in Santa Fe or Taos. But in recent years, savvy travelers have been making Albuquerque their first and only stop, taking time to enjoy the quirky populace—aging hippies, college professors, outsider artists and science nerds abound—as well as the incomparable natural setting. Albuquerque is more than a mile high with defunct volcanoes along one edge, a dramatic mountain range along the other, and the Rio Grande running right through the middle. Here, you can start the morning with a bike ride, hike in the mid-day, hit a museum in the afternoon then enjoy a nice dinner in Nob Hill. And best yet, you can do most things here on the cheap. New Mexico’s distinctive cuisine—laced with spicy-hot, earthy red and green chiles—is at its best here, at mom-and-pop lunch counters, raucous diners and even a bowling alley. But you can also dine with a James Beard-nominated...See More chef—for a fraction of what you’d pay in Santa Fe for a similar meal. So pull off the interstate and cruise the surface streets, where Western sprawl narrows to old adobe neighborhoods and patchwork-painted bungalows, where horse paddocks replace front yards, and where low-riders cruise under the neon signs. Albuquerque travel is worth every minute—and certainly every cent. See Less